Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $540.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $585.00 to $540.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $404.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.